Golf-club head



Au 11, 1925. I 1,548,867

' W. BURKE GOLF B HEAD Filed pt. 6. 1923 l0 3' INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY5 Patented Aug 11, 1925.,

ltlNlTQ STTES PET" WILLIAM BURKE, OF NEWARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BURKE GOLF COMPANY, OF NEWARK, OH O, O B I l l O OHIO.

GOLF-CLUB H AD.

Application filed September To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l VILLIAM BURKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful lmprovemens in Golf-Club Heads, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompan ing drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in golf club heads.

The object of my invention is to combine with a club head a sole or bottom plate having its rear edge formed in the arc of a circle so that when the sole plate strikes a ball or other object in using the club the thrust against the plate will be resisted by all parts of the curved edge shouldering against a like curved wall formed by a recess in the club into which the sole plate is fitted.

By this arrangement I find that no matter what part of the edge of the sole plate sustains the blow the resistance is distributed over the curved surface formed by the edge of the plate and the shoulder of the recess.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is an elevation of a golf club head looking at the striking face;

Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view looking at the bottom of the club head; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Any suitable pattern of golf club head is indicated by the numeral 1 in the drawings, being equipped with extension 2 which forms a part of the handle of the club.

lhe lower forward portion or area of the club bottom is recessec, as indicated at 3. The wall of the recess forms a segment of a circle or substantially so. The sole or bot tom plate t is fashioned to fit within this recess by having its rear edge and side portions 5 in the form of a segment of a circle or substantially so, to conform to the shape of the shoulder of the recess 3. The face of the sole plate is fashioned to conform, as shown at 6, to the striking face of the club. The plate is secured in the recess by fastening devices, such as screws 7 Whose heads are flush with the bottom of the plate and whose 6, 1923. Serial No. 661,141.

points enter sufficiently deep into the body of the head. The corners 8 of the sole plate are beveled to blend into the adjacent surfaces 9 of the head, while the bottom face 10 of the head is flush with the bottom of the sole plate.

The strking plate 11 fits into a recess 15 in the striking face of the club and overlaps and fits upon the. projecting forward portion of the sole plate a, as best seen in Fig. 3. lhe striking plate may have ebony inserts 12.

It will now be een that when the club is s vung and the forward edge of the sole plate strikes an object or the ball itself, which tends to jar or drive the plate backward, due resistance is afforded by the curved rear edge of the plate against the corresponding shoulder of the recess in which the plate is located. No matter what part of the forward edge of the plate meets with the resistance the thrust is met by the curved portion of the plate acting against the correspondingly curved shoulder. In practice I have found this curved edge sole plate and correspondingly curved recess shoulder very effective in affording excellent resistance points for the sole plate no matter what part of its edge meets with the resistance.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with a golf club head having a recess in its lower portion extending from the striking face rearwardly substantially in the arc of a circle and also having a recess in its striking face, a sole plate fitted in and conforming to the first mentioned recess, whereby when any part of the forward edge of the sole plate strikes an object the thrust against the plate will be sisted by the curved edge shoulder of said recess, thereby distributing the thrust of the sole plate to all parts of the curved edge shoulder, a separate striking plate fitted in and conforming to the other recess and located above the forward portion of the sole plate, leaving the forward edge of said sole plate exposed for striking an object independently of the striking plate, and devices to fasten both plates to the club head.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature wiLniaM BURKE- 

